"There's no better comeback" – Jamie George: England captain backs his team to end losing streak against South Africa

11/11/2024 08:42 AM

England captain Jamie George believes that his side have the ultimate opportunity to respond, after back-to-back defeats in the Autumn Nations Series. George is set to lead England out on Saturday as they take on South Africa, with the hooker calling the incoming battle with the Boks ‘a brilliant challenge’.

There is no understating the aura around South Africa ahead of this clash at the Allianz, with the back-to-back World Champions kicking off their own Autumn campaign this past weekend. The Springboks handed Scotland a heavy 32-15 defeat in Edinburgh, to commence their aim of a clean sweep across the Northern Hemisphere. George believes that his side are certainly up to the titanic effort, as he spoke to the media after England’s defeat to Australia.

“Yeah, it's a brilliant challenge, it's a great opportunity, there's so much excitement about whenever South Africa come to town. The fixes of the game are what we need to get right anyway against South Africa so it's a brilliant focus for us and playing against a big team like that, there's no better comeback.”

England back row Ben Earl expressed how he understands the frustration felt by the fans, after Steve Borthwick’s side sustained their fourth consecutive defeat. Dating back to the two losses in the Summer to the All Blacks, England followed this up with the heartbreaking defeat against Scott Roberston’s side a fortnight ago, with tethers beginning to draw thin following the last-minute loss to the Wallabies this past Saturday.

George hopes that the support of the fans remains strong, with the Allianz expected to be in full voice for the incoming Springboks.

“I hope it doesn't start to fray, I hope the supporters are seeing the endeavour, the passion and the pride that we're playing with.” George said. “I understand that results are massively important, no one is more disappointed about losing this game than we are in this squad. We know that result matter and we will be doing absolutely everything we possibly can to get the results in the next two weeks.”

“I just think there's a lot to see there. The result is of course important but I think we're seeing a lot of good things in the game. I'm disappointed, I'm frustrated, I'm gutted, we've got to make sure that we back up the good things with more good things. That is what Test rugby is about, I understand that there can be frustration. What I ask is that they stick with us and continue to believe in what we're doing because we certainly do as players.”

George can sympathise with the England supporters, as like them, he was watching on from the Allianz Stadium stands in the closing moments against New Zealand and Australia. George is often withdrawn around the 50 minute to the hour mark, with either Theo Dan or Luke Cowan-Dickie exploding off the bench to steer the ship home in the latter stages of the match.

“It's frustrating because I'm watching as a fan.” George explained. “I take pride in what I do with regards to my work. But at the same time I've got every confidence in the boys on the field and we've got clarity in what we do, we didn't execute it today so that'll be the focus for the next two weeks.”

“The interesting thing is that you look at all the games and they're actually very different. What we did today was turn over the ball too much and gave unstructured attack to a team who is very good in that respect.

“So what we've got to make sure we do is tighten that up. I think there's a different challenge with South Africa. But at the same time we prepare for an opposition, we also make sure that we get our stuff right too and how we want to take them on. It's frustrating tonight, there are other areas where we let ourselves down but I think that's probably the main thing.”

The last time England took on South Africa was the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final, which was once again decided by the narrowest of margins. The world champions-to be achieved the 16-15 win by the boot of Handre Pollard, as the fly half nailed a decisive penalty to take them through to their coronating final. Despite the defeat only being a year ago, it feels like a far greater amount of time has past for George, but the hurt is still there as he looked back to the defeat in Paris.

“It does feel a long time ago but of course. You don't get over Test matches like that very well. This will hurt for a long time but we are able to use various different options to give us motivation going into this week and this performance will be one of them, getting it right, making the fans proud will be another. But off the back of that there will be history things too.”

“I haven't had a huge amount of time to look ahead to South Africa. That process will start tomorrow (Sunday) and the review of this game as well. Whenever you look at it there are some basic things that you've got to get right, set-piece being one of them, kicking game the other.

“That's a huge foundation of what South Africa have done and they do it very well, that's the reason they're back to back world champions but I think we understand the blueprint of how to beat them and that's an exciting prospect.”

As England embark on the all important training week, George believes that if his side prepare as best that they can, they are in with a real shot against the South Africans. The hooker called back to how his team prepared for the memorable Six Nations win against Ireland back in March, in what was the last time England men achieved a win at the Allianz Stadium. George expects an extra ‘bite’ in the training sessions, as the entire 36-man squad battle for a place in Steve Borthwick’s match day 23 to take on the Springboks.

“I promise you I'm not just saying we believe in what we're doing for the sake of the media, I genuinely believe in what we're doing. It's important to get this week right, we reflect back to the Ireland week, for example, we got the week right, the build-up right, the emotion right. It's important for us to be able to do that again and we'll make sure it happens. 

“I think our scrum is improving. I think there are still steps that we want to take with that. In terms of the challenge it doesn't get any bigger than South Africa. The last time we played against them it went well and it gave us a good footprint in the game so we'll make sure we continue to work hard.

“Not anger (in training). Ultimately, whenever you review anything it's always about coming away from it with clarity. Clarity on what we want to do, what went wrong, be honest and hold your hand up if you've made a wrong decision or missed a tackle or whatever it might be, so that we can all learn from it. That's what it's got to be about. Is there going to be a bite to training, an extra bit of physicality, yeah, but that's only a good thing.”

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